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Home-made speaker pods

harley@16

harley@16

Junior Member
I want to make my own speaker pods for my FLHT. Has anyone done this before? I added the detachable tour pack and a stereo, 5 1/4" speakers for the fairing, then I bought a pair of 6 3/4" speakers for the back but I don't have the pods. I know you can buy them on E-Bay and from HD but I'm sure that I can get away with saving a bunch of cash by doing it myself. Any ideas are appreciated.
Harley
 
You might try your local "punk kid" stereo shop...they are doing some amazing things these days with fiberglass and who knows what else...just a thought..
 
lakeforktx said:
You might try your local "punk kid" stereo shop...they are doing some amazing things these days with fiberglass and who knows what else...just a thought..
Click to expand...

That's great! I went out and bought some fiberglass and resin from the auto section at Wallyworld for pretty cheap and now I'm forming some Styrofoam for a mold... still in the discovery mode not sure what I will do.
 
Good deal and nice to see you take on the project. I am impressed with original ideas and craftsmanship. Do take pictures and am very interested in how it turns out.

Have to say, like you...I like the idea of slamming my money down on the "business end" of a project, if the ultimate goal is performance, the key is the sound drivers and providing good sealing and packing inside with sound reflection deadening insulation...NOT so much the enclosure.

Acoustic suspension speakers have real free movement cones and rely on the sealed air to prevent self destruction. Bass reflex speakers have a slightly stoffer cloth roll edge cone and actually allow a little venting out the back for more power/sound efficiency and are what works with loud free air sound you need for a motorcycle. This is why those enclosures are so inexpensive on eBay...not much thought goes into a moulded plastic housing verses real design.
 
I was concerned about the type of enclosure required, if it needed to be sealed or not, and haven't researched it yet but those are good points. I assumed they were meant to install in a car door or over the trunk so I thought they didn't need to be sealed. The Polks I bought for the fairing sound real good in that application. I haven't real noticed any distortion and I can turn it up where it is too loud to comfortably listen.
I'll post picts as soon as I take some.
Harley
 
Check the Polk Audio drivers cone edges, if the movement of 1/2" and rolled edge is foam, it is likely an air suspension speaker. If it has stiffer, movement of 1/4" and rolled edge is cloth it is a Bass Reflex speaker which does not need such a sealed enclosure and probably more suitable for motorcycle speaker.

If enclosure is not matched, properly for the driver, it will have problems with subsonic bass notes causing uncontrolled resonances or fluttering sound if heavy notes are pounded out of a high powered amp, indicating overload or sonic distortion.
 
NEWHD74FAN said:
Check the Polk Audio drivers cone edges, if the movement of 1/2" and rolled edge is foam, it is likely an air suspension speaker. If it has stiffer, movement of 1/4" and rolled edge is cloth it is a Bass Reflex speaker which does not need such a sealed enclosure and probably more suitable for motorcycle speaker.

If enclosure is not matched, properly for the driver, it will have problems with subsonic bass notes causing uncontrolled resonances or fluttering sound if heavy notes are pounded out of a high powered amp, indicating overload or sonic distortion.
Click to expand...

Well, they are connected with foam rubber but they only move 1/4". They must be air suspension. These speakers (the 5 1/4's that I already have in the fairing) handle the power great and they sound great. I wanted to get the 6 3/4" to handle a little more bass, the specs say down to 40 hz (the 5 1/4's only handle about 60hz before they can't reproduce). Plus the sound of 4 speakers surrounding you is so much more dynamic. I don't have a separate amp driving these so they aren't getting slammed. Check out my foam riser for the speaker to mount on. It means I have to cut a hole in the saddlebag lid but I want to be able to have the sound even if I take the tour-pak off for a while.
http://www.hdtimeline.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=11915&stc=1&d=1322286242
 

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